On solar holiday lights

29 Oct 2007

Got questions about the environment? Ask Umbra.

Dear Umbra,

As the holiday season approaches, I'm trying to figure out how to spread good cheer in home decorations while being sensitive to the environment. Years ago, my husband and I purchased strings of lights that we wrapped around the trunks of palm trees in our front yard. Now the wiser, I'd like to use these lights off the grid, if you will. Instead of purchasing new LED lights that are so popular right now (and in turn, promoting more consumerism!), do you know of a solar panel that has an electrical outlet? I'm thinking that I could charge the panel during the day (here in sunny Southern California) and plug in the lights at night to show our holiday spirit. Has technology caught up to this yet, or do I just have a million-dollar idea?

Ashley Bradley
San Diego, Calif.

Dearest Ashley,

Here I am all excited about your solar light show, and then I notice your home is in sunny San Diego. I hope you still have a home and trees in front of it, and that this column finds you fire-free.

Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder how green you are.

Photo: iStockphoto

I'm trying to write about Holiday Issues early this year, give you all some lead time should you wish to investigate my investigations. (Or is that LED time? Ho ho ho!) You do have a million-dollar idea: a great idea, but prohibitively expensive. There are readily available alternatives; you'll just have to cave and buy those incredibly efficient LED lights you meant to avoid, with a solar cell built in.

Here's the deal: photovoltaic cells, which make up the familiar flat, shiny solar panels, produce direct current (DC). American household appliances run on alternating current (AC). Solar electricity captured to power home appliances must first pass through an inverter, which converts the current from DC to AC. In order to achieve your imagined holiday light scenario, you would need to buy a panel and an inverter, and I suppose a receptacle (unless I'm missing something out in the solar universe, which is always possible). There are holiday lights available that plug directly into DC current, but their plug-ends are adapters such as fit in a car cigarette lighter. All this would be ridiculously expensive, bringing the obvious question to the fore: if you are going to do all that just to power incandescent holiday lights, why not start changing over to solar power for your entire home?

Luckily, you have some time to start planning your home's solar conversion, because there are solar holiday lighting possibilities that don't require rush-job rooftop solar arrays. Plenty of solar-cell powered holiday lighting décor is already on the market. These seem to work on the same principle as solar roadside emergency boxes: a small, built-in solar cell provides the power, and daylight charges a battery that is then drained by the night's holiday cheer.

Ask Umbra continues below

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The lamps in the lights are usually LED, because LED lights are far, far more efficient than incandescents. A string of solar-powered LED lights might cost $60-$100 or more -- which seems expensive, until we recall how expensive an entire solar array would have been. The one-time expense may also be leavened by the money you'll save on your electric bill.

Solar-powered holiday products include strings of lights, wreaths, little Santa heads on a stick, snowpersons, entire mini-trees, and fake candles-in-a-bag. You will easily find all of these and more right here on the worldwide web, and I think you'll be very happy with the money you'll save. Keep the holiday questions coming, I'm braced and ready.

Cheerily,
Umbra

Yours is to wonder why, hers is to answer (or try). Please send Umbra any nagging question pertaining to the environment -- but first check out her FAQs!

The claims made in this column may not reflect the views of this magazine. Neither the magazine nor the author guarantees that any advice contained in this column is wise or safe. Please use this column at your own risk.

Umbra Fisk is Grist Research Associate II, Hardcover and Periodicals Unit, floors 2B-4B.

Comments: (8 comments)

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Less is more

If you want to do less damage to the environment, you buy only if you need to replace an item because the other item is broken. That still results in damage, but less of it. At least put the lights on a timer so they are only on when people are there to see them.

Solar cells create toxic by-products and not making them is better than making them if this is a question whether to make and use a gadget (like the above) or not. In addition, I have doubts that solar cells specifically designed and used for items like the above ever make more energy than it took to create the product itself. Or an (at least) equal amount of energy to the energy that is required to power the products. Again, you are better off not buying and using the item. Using it requires more energy and resources than not using it. Which can be said about many things if you think about it.

So, since this is about the environment, money is not an issue. Buy the LEDs and use what you got for many, many seasons. Better: Don't do it at all. Cheaper, no impact, immediate results.

How the heck did we celebrate our holiday season without all those lights or electrically powered decoration just 30-40 years ago? I mean, was it even possible to feel festive then?

Karsten
http://www.polluteless.com

by PolluteLessDotCom at 1:40 PM on 29 Oct 2007

Xmas lights, halloween lights, easter decorations,

If everybody donated 10% of his/her (anticipated) spending on decorations to a charitable cause, what a great thing it would be.
klk

by Kara Lynn at 11:30 PM on 29 Oct 2007

Holiday Spirit?

Silly me! I thought the "holiday spirit" was about 'peace on earth & goodwill to all men!' not 'how many flashy lights can I squeeze onto my house?'. Seriously, why have the lights at all? Make a wreath for your door (from environmentally friendly materials, natch!), decorate your room & tree with items that don't require power.

by czol at 2:35 AM on 30 Oct 2007

People's ideals don't change.

So you may as well make them adapt. People will always want christmas lights at Christmas, because its whats been done for years and most people are animals of habit. All we can do instead of telling people that those lights are dumb and to go fully green is to smartly adapt their habits to creative green ones. Thankfully there are companies who are working to 'green up' things like christmas lights.

Eternal Coil :: http://eternalcoil.ca

by aaronrobb at 7:34 AM on 30 Oct 2007

solar cells vs LED

I'll second the first post, and surmise that the energy required to produce, package, and ship (from China probably) the solar panels is probably greater than the minuscule energy consumption the LEDs would have if powered by household electricity.

Strings of a couple of hundred LEDs use only a dozen watts; coupled with a timer, the power draw over the 4-6 week holiday season is going to be minimal. (Compare that to the "traditional" lights you're replacing at ½ to 1 watt each!)

So I'd go buy some LED bulbs. Or, even better, turn your house solar as suggested above.

by miken32 at 7:55 AM on 30 Oct 2007

there's nothing inherently evil about xmas lights

I don't think sustainability is about sacrifice. If you enjoy christmas lights (it's a tradition to put them up with your family, everyone in your neighborhood participates, it makes you smile and reminds you of all the spirit and peace on earth stuff) then go right ahead! If we keep asking people to make sacrifices, they'll run the other way, credit card in hand.
I say go for the solar powered christmas lights or invest in the LED's and forgo the usual gifts this year (because honestly, do you really need more stuff?) and ask everyone to pitch in for your shiny new PV system for christmas. You'll have to come up with most of the money yourself, but if everyone in your family payed for a portion of it (a few kw perhaps?) you'd have a special gift that keeps on giving year after year.

by wouldntitbenice at 2:20 PM on 30 Oct 2007

Cut people some slack

Cut people some slack. Yes, people could have a great Christmas without Christmas lights. People could also have a pretty decent life without meat, cars, vacations, and all those other "environmental evils" that consume the earth's resources. But if we strip away everything, what would be the point of life? I like Christmas lights. It's not because I'm a creature of habit, or socially brainwashed or anything; I just find Christmas lights very warm and inviting (especially when they are covered with snow!) If you really like lights, buy LED lights. It seems like there's a real tendency of many enviros to judge others for committing environmental transgressions that don't appeal to them, while turning a blind eye to their own indulgences.

Everyone will have something they like to do that consumes more resources - we're human, and it's exhuasting (and expensive) to deprive ourselves of everything or switch to the most environmentally friendly gadget. Just work on what you can, and cut back where you can. It's good to feel the pinch, but it's hard when you feel squeezed all the time.

by demeest at 11:54 AM on 01 Nov 2007
[ Parent ]

Solar Cells Negate the savings

The shear cost of Solar Cells and Batteries, ans well as the maintenance of the batteries far out cost the energy savings that you could achieve by replacing your holiday lighting with LED's.

When you can run that same number of lights for 1/10th the Energy used by conventional lighting, why bother with Solar Cells that could cost well into the 10 of thousands of dollars.

Check Out BulkLights.Com Commercial Grade Energy Saving LED Lights

by LED Guy at 2:24 PM on 22 Jan 2008

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